Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Our Husky read for January - March is Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner a 1971 novel that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972.

A wheelchair bound Lyman Ward who has a painful disease, (at age 58 and our narrator), who has lost connection with his son and family, decides to write about his frontier-era grandmother who made her own trip west in the 1800s. The novel is directly based on the letters of Mary Hallock Foote. (569 pages)

The title is an engineering term for the angle at which soil finally settles after, for example, being dumped from a mine as tailings.

“Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend.”
― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

Does anyone have plans to read this during the first quarter of our New Year?

Lesle wrote: "Our Husky read for January - March is Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner a 1971 novel that won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972.

A wheelchair bound Lyman Ward w..."

Oh, I love this book! I know that I have a copy on my shelves, so if I have time, I will dig it out and do a reread. Probably not until mid-February, though. I'm "booked" for January, lol!

January for me is quite full to! But plan on reading this one too.

Our household also loves this book. If we haven’t loaned it out (again!) I’ll try to re-read.

I plan to read this also. I’ll start soon since my audiobook came through on Overdrive.

Annette wrote: "Our household also loves this book. If we haven’t loaned it out (again!) I’ll try to re-read."

Hope you can Annette or just add your thoughts!

Kathy this is one that has been on the TBR pile! Glad your reading it with us!

I loved this book, will try to join the conversation.

Kelly_Hunsaker_reads wrote: "I loved this book, will try to join the conversation."

Glad to hear you really liked this book!

So it’s not on my shelf meaning we’ve loaned it out (again!) and the wait list at the library is long- both recommendations right there! I can also add the comment that my mother-in-law made when we gave it to her. When she first started the book, she asked “why would we give her a book about old, sick people” but went on to sing its praises later.

I'm loving this book so far. Beautiful!

There was some controversy about Stegner use of the letters of Mary Hallock Foote.

"The novel is directly based on the letters of Mary Hallock Foote, later published as A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West.

Stegner's use of substantial passages from Foote's actual letters as the correspondence of his fictional character Susan Burling Ward was and remains controversial among some scholars.[1][2] The controversy is somewhat tempered since Stegner had received permission to use Foote's writings, implying as much in the book's acknowledgments page."

I read that too but since he had permission not sure what the problem was.

I am looking forward to "Angle" as my next Hefty/Husky ... funishing up A.K. this week ..

Glad to have you with us on this one too VeeInNY!

Are you doing a review for AK?

This was a beautiful book. I'll miss these characters. There are two timelines - one is 1970 where paralyzed Lyman Ward is writing about his grandparents. The other is from 1876 to the early 1890s which is the story of Susan Burling Ward and Oliver Ward who tried to make a go of it in the West. I can see why this won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972.

My hold just came in so I will be starting it this week!

I hope you enjoy it, Pam. I'm still thinking about the story!

Pulled it from my shelve and plan on starting next week. :-)

I am hoping so too Mikiko :)

Should the title of this thread say 2021?

I just barely started it but like the writing so far. This is my first book by Stegner. I have been meaning to read this one for a few years but just needed a push!

Pam wrote: "Should the title of this thread say 2021?..."

Oops!
Thanks Pam!

Starting this one later today!

Is it legit for me to notify fellow readers that the Blackstone Audio version of "Angle" is available for $2.99 thru "chirpbooks" until Valentines Day..... ? ;-) no "membership" or subscription required....

VeeInNY sure! It is nice to help others locate a book!

At lunch and reading!

Wow not what I was thinking when I first picked it up.

The novel is two tales, Lyman and his relationship with his wife, son and Shelly. The other story is about his Grandparents struggles while coming west. Oliver and Susan are real survivalist, despite frequent separations, disappointments, disagreements, loss, betrayals, for 60 years of a relationship.

An old-fashioned tale of life experiences and the investigation of life itself. Very enjoyable, lingering read and highly recommend.

Beautifully written landscape:
'They came out onto a plateau and passed through aspens still leafless, with drifts deep among the trunks, then through a scattering of alpine firs that grew runty and gnarled and gave way to brown grass that showed the faintest tint of green on the southward slopes and disappeared under deep snowbanks on the northward ones. The whole high upland glittered with light.'

Beautiful quote, Lesle.

Kathy his descriptions made the details really come to life in my mind.

Stegner created such a thought-provoking and multi-dimensional female character. He wrote “The novel got very complex before it was done. It gave me trouble: I had too many papers, recorded reality tied my hands. But a blessed thing happened. In the course of trying to make fiction of a historical personage, I discovered, or half created, a living woman in Victorian dress. I forced her into situations untrue to her life history but not, I think, untrue to the human probabilities that do not depend on time or custom. In the end I had to elect to be true to the woman rather than to the historical personage.”

Enjoying the book so far.

His descriptions are wonderful.
I was hooked when he wrote in Part 1... below in the valley, lights coming on, one by one and comparing it to popcorn. Simple but brilliant.

Mikiko I am glad you are enjoying this read! It is a total different concept to a book than I have ever read before.

I was thinking there was still a couple Members reading this one. If you can let me know I will not archive it yet. Thanks!

Nice to give a warning so people have a chance to connect before you archive this.

This is from January Jazzy and usually by March I would have archived it, which still is open for comments, but I was thinking somebody mentioned they wanted to read it in one of the other threads or maybe it is my old age kicking in and dreamt it! lol

Time is like a blur during these weird covid times. I can't believe it's April already.

Finish this a few days ago. I had the book in my TBR pile for some time now and thanks to the challenge I finally got around to reading it. I don't know why I waited so long, it was so beautifully written that now I want to read other novels by Wallace Stegner. Thank you for the suggestion (Kathy, I believe).

I felt that Lyman during his research not only discovered more about the relationship of his grandparents but also more about his father. The dynamics within the family seemed so complex.

If anyone is interested, this is a docu/interview with him narrated by Robert Redford.
https://montgomery.dartmouth.edu/wall...

Thank you Mikiko for the documentary. Very enlightening and interesting too. Redford did a wonderful job.